Blue Water Summer
by Mage the Observer
Summary: Azure sky rests upon cerulean sea. Sailboats dot the horizon. Green trees mark the shore. And a certain young farmer provides endless annoyance...


Azure sky rests upon cerulean sea. Sailboats dot the horizon. Green trees mark the shore.

For me, summer is the perfect time. Maybe it's because that was the season I was born in, maybe it's because it's always summer on the small island I grew up on. Maybe it's hereditary, with my parents both coming from hot climates.

Or maybe... it's the scenery I found when I first came to this village. I've traveled other places, to be sure; but I've always worked hard to be at this particular dock by the first of summer.

And there it is, the sunrise view I always want to see... when golden rays part the heavens from the seas, and the world is born anew...

"Morning Selena. Enjoying the view?"

Ugh. It figures. Someone _always_ manages to come along and spoil my perfect morning...

"Don't you have work to do, farm boy?"

And that cocky little kid just shrugs and walks away. Damn it, he could at _least_ show me a little courtesy after interrupting me like that!

Turning back to the sun, I find that it's already risen, and it's about time to start my day. Huffing angrily, I storm off the dock, with murder insured to the next person who gets in my way...

--

_Red hair over emerald eyes. Skin cast from molten bronze. And __**damn**__ but she knows how to show it all off!_

From the very first day I met Selena, I was hooked. Sure, she's a little antisocial, but she's the most drop-dead gorgeous woman I've ever met.

Besides, if she wasn't a challenge, I wouldn't have any fun courting her, now would I?

Of course, she was right about my work... my chickens needed feeding, my tomatoes needed watering, and if I couldn't get a barn set up by the end of the season I was going to miss out on a lot.

Still... for some dumbass reason I had to talk to her first. My stupid compulsion would probably put an end to this relationship before it started... but then again, maybe I could find a chink in her armor before that happened...

_Damn_ it's hot. I can't wait for winter to roll around...

--

Ocean breezes on the beach. A bruising horizon on the edge of dusk. The promise of fireworks to come.

"_Wow, _that's a beautiful sight!"

And an annoying hanger-on. Seriously, doesn't he have _anything_ better to do today?

Of course, he just smirks and sits next to me when I ask him that. Sometimes I just want to smack that arrogant little face of his...

"Coconut cocktail?"

And sometimes I want to kiss him for getting something like this for me. Especially since it's so hard to find coconuts around here...

Alright, so I've _almost _forgiven him for being such a jerk. But the occasional gift isn't going to make me head-over-heels for that cocky brat.

Especially since he fell asleep before the fireworks started...

--

_An elegant rose, fragrant and beautiful. Thorny too. But she's a lot more vulnerable once you get past that..._

I don't know _why_ Craig complained so much about me growing roses all of a sudden. I know they're not exactly a cash crop, but they've got a good commercial application in perfumes, and they look beautiful besides.

Though really, I'm growing them because they remind me of her.

I've learned so much about her, now that I've managed to get past her thorns, and she really is a rose in her own right. She's even got that shade of hair to match.

And like a rose, she blooms in the summer.

I never imagined I'd fall for someone like her...

--

A clear, humid night. A secluded spring. And the fairies are everywhere tonight.

I never imagined that I'd see the Firefly Festival as anything but a chance to watch 'The Fairy Dance.' One last moment of perfection before the end of the season.

Yet here I am, with that annoying farm boy next to me.

Maybe I don't see him quite the way I did at the beginning of the season. Maybe I even _like_ him, if only a little...

"Why do you call it a fairy dance, anyway?"

...

...

No, he'll always be annoying. I might be falling for him, but he'll _always _be a cocky little brat. It's too firmly engrained in his personality.

"It's just something my mother told me when I was a little girl; I'll tell you the whole story later. Now hush, or you'll scare them all away."

Relaxing a little, he starts settling against me. I suppose he'll just fall asleep again, but I'm ok with that. He practically kills himself on that farm of his, and it's only just starting to show a profit for him. He deserves a little rest.

Of course, he'll go straight into the pond if he tries to grope me...

--

_Crisp, clean air. Green turns to gold. And Selena's getting irritable again..._

"It's just autumn, Selena. You're not going to freeze to death for another season."

She just glares at me, and flips me off. Taking it as a compliment, I merely chuckle.

"Seriously though, it's not so bad. If nothing else, you can hide in the nice, warm inn all winter."

A despondent sigh. Hardly the reaction I was hoping for...

"You could migrate back to..."

_**"HELL NO."**_

"Ok, ok. It was just a suggestion! Don't you usually head for other villages around this time of year anyway?"

And now she shakes her head, as if I didn't get it.

"Well, there's always my place..."

At this, I have her full attention.

"Was that a proposal, Kevin?"

"If you want it to be, I suppose it is. But it comes with a dire warning."

"Dire warning?"

"If you spend your winters with me, I'll make them a living hell for you."

She accepts. I suppose she assumes that hell will be nice and warm...

--

Azure sky rests upon cerulean sea. Sailboats dot the horizon. Green trees mark the shore.

Yup, the year's come full cycle, and I'm back at the docks. Even with a husband like Kevin, there's no way in hell that I'm going to miss the first morning of summer.

He was right, of course. Winter was an unenviable hell, between the cold, the snow, and his endless pining over it. And worse, he's got me looking _forward_ to spending more of them with him.

Still, it's the first of summer. I have a wonderful home, a caring (if annoying) husband, and a child soon to be born.

More importantly though, Kevin _hates_ summer. And for every time he needled me during the winter, I planned my revenge.

And finally, _it's payback time!_


End file.
